Chicken Noodle Soup for Bella's Soul
by AsthmaticVampire
Summary: This is a Bella/Edward One Shot about Bella’s determination to become a vampire. The vote of the Cullen’s never happened, and in the middle of Eclipse, Bella has to convince Edward that what she wants is the right thing to do.


Chicken Noodle Soup for Bella's Soul

As I turned the corner onto Bella's street to pick her up for our weekend in Seattle, I was surprised by her absence. I had expected her to stand beside her truck with her bag in hand, ready to go. The rusty old truck stood in front of the house and Charlie's cruiser was gone.

Puzzled, I pulled into the driveway with the Volvo and put it in park. Within seconds I was up the steps and through the door, calling for her. "Bella? Are you there?" If my hearing hadn't been inhumanly acute, I would never have heard the hoarse whisper of my name. Unable to think of what could be the matter, I dashed up the wooden flight of stairs. As I crashed though the door, a cloud of humid menthol crashed against my nostrils, all scent of Bella marred by the antiseptic smell of cough drops.

There, red eyed and tousle haired, surrounded by cough drops, tissue boxes, pills, and a billowing humidifier lay my darling. She half sat, half lay on her bed, covered with a quilt and looking utterly miserable.

"Edward – I'm sorry that I ruined our plans but I feel absolutely miserable," she whispered hoarsely. "You can still go to Seattle, I'll be fine. Charlie is gone for the weekend, but I can manage –"

"I'm not going to Seattle when you're sick"

"OK, then go home – I don't want you to have to see me like this," interrupted Bella.

"And rob me of the chance to tend to my beautiful, ailing love? Not a chance Bella – I'm taking this opportunity to make you chicken noodle soup, sit by your side, and to simply be with you until you get better." And she blinked. Apparently I had stunned my darling once again.

She seemed unable to resist my argument as she sank back into her pillows with a sigh which quickly turned into a cough. I chuckled softly and walked to her bed, scooped her into my arms along with her quilt and carried her down into the kitchen. As we descended the stairs she frowned slightly, immersed in her thoughts.

"What are you thinking about now?" I asked her, smiling softly down at her, all the while walking down the flight of stairs. Bella's face took on the expression which she always had when she was attempting to keep something from me. I had to, as she likes to say, dazzle her, plain and simple. I looked deeply into her eyes and as I turned on the charm, I could feel her loosing grip of her conviction to remain silent. She blushed a delectable, deep red and spoke in a breathless, coarse whisper.

"Once you turn me into a vampire I'll never have to be sick again. I won't be weak and helpless like some dumb human,"

As those words left her mouth my faced became hard. She hadn't brought up the subject in a long time, yet this was the worst time. Why couldn't she see how much joy I took in her humanity? How much I loved her for those supposedly embarrassing human traits? However I said nothing, placing her on a chair in the kitchen, and I began to move throughout the kitchen, grabbing an onion, celery, carrots, a box of noodles, canned broth, and a chicken breast fillet.

Bella sat in the chair, pulling her quilt up to her neck and coughing sporadically as I began to cook. An uncomfortable silence fell over the kitchen as I said nothing, my shoulders tensed while I chopped vegetables. If we had been talking right now, Bella would have most likely found a negative aspect in my ability to cook without the ability to eat human food (nor to find it to have good taste). It was yet another reminder of her argument, and her damned desire to give up her soul. As the onions simmered at the bottom of a pot in olive oil and I moved from chopping the vegetables to cleaning and cutting the chicken, Bella coughed violently, and with a sigh got up and dragged herself over to the couch.

She laid herself down on the couch and I could no longer see her. However I could hear her heart beat and I continued to cook her soup. This one fundamental difference in our belief had the potential of ripping us apart. I could see her reasoning in wanting to be able to spend forever with, yet her desire to give up her soul for that sake seemed to me to be a moot point. No amount of her arguing would get me to reconsider. I planned on letting her live her life to the fullest, to be there for her, and then when…

I stopped thinking about it, because deep down it caused me pain to think of Bella's life, her beauty, and her presence in my life ending, even if I intended to commit suicide by means of provoking someone with the capacity to kill my kind. Yet, my selfish desires could not, would not, rob Bella of her immortal soul.

As I continued to think, the soup had finished, and I ladled a good, steaming portion into a ceramic bowl. I added a spoon and took the bowl in hand, feeling no sensation of heat in my icy grip. Walking over to the couch I finally became aware of a sound I had not perceived among my thoughts and cooking. Heart wrenching sobs, stifled by the old couch, emanating from my love almost sent the bowl of soup in my hand flying to the floor.

"What's wrong Bella?"

That was most likely the most idiotic question I could have asked. Of course I knew what was wrong. As soon as the words left my mouth, Bella twisted over on the couch, pulling her head out of the couch and eyed me with bleary, red eyes. One hundred and eight years could never have prepared me for the answer I was about to receive, delivered between sobs and coughs, and it was the answer that would change everything.

"What's wrong with me? How could you even ask such a thing, Edward? You know what I want, and why I'm crying. You know how much I love you, and that I want nothing but to be with you, forever. I want to be your equal in everything and I want to share eternity with you. Why can't you understand that? All you can do is blather on about my immortal soul! It isn't worth anything to me, to have my goddamn immortal soul safe and sound, and to not be with you, because even if your stupid theory is right, I wouldn't see you in wherever that soul goes after death, either way. "

"And that goddamn idea that we have to be like a version of Romeo and Juliet just makes everything worse! You would be willing to see me age in front of your eyes, and then deprive your family of yourself by getting yourself shredded to pieces. I love you. Don't you get that? What is there not to understand about what I want, Edward? I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I want that life to be as long as yours. Love means going to extremes to be with the one you love, and to give yourself over to that, no matter what. But love is also indefinable, an interpretation of the heart, and what our love dictates to be true. Our love calls for my undergoing a change of species, but I can live with that, because I could never live with the alternative."

"You have to understand, Edward that for me there is no one else. There is no one I will ever love more than I love you, and I need you to show me that you love me as much, if not more. You won't prove your love for me by safeguarding my soul or my virtue, you will prove your love for me by doing what is best for both of us. Because I know, that with our love as strong as it is, we cannot live without one another. Nothing matters more than our love for each other, and if you look deep down inside your heart, you know that to be the truth. I know you want it, for me to be with you forever in all aspects of the word, and it is not selfish. It is love."

As Bella finished with a shuddering sniff, she never looked more beautiful. The love in her gaze overwhelmed me, and if I could have cried I would have. Everything she had said was the truth. I loved her, and I wanted to be with her forever. I answered her with a soft kiss on the lips and pulled her closely to my body, grazing her neck with my teeth.

* * *

**This story came to me on the plane ride back from Germany during Christmas Break while reading a Chicken Noodle Soup book and listening to The Mitch Hansen Band. It was sitting in the back of my head for quite a while, and I finally decided to write it, because I had meant to write Chapter Seven of Questionable Sunrise today, but realized I had left it on the school computer station. So no new chapter until next week, but something else instead. I hope you guys like it, and as always, reviews are love.**

**Anne-Sophie**


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